Updated on: July 15, 2026 / 8:06 PM EDT/ CBS News
Blanche's confirmation hearing concluded after roughly five hours. Grassley, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, praised Blanche for his responses.
"You should be very proud of your performance today," he said. "I think you performed admirably, showed this entire country that you're eminently qualified to serve as attorney general. If confirmed, I'm very confident that you'll continue to do that superb job."
Democratic Sen. Adam Schiff of California asked Blanche if President Trump is immune from tax claims from the IRS this year under the settlement the acting attorney general signed off on earlier this year.
"So, for a tax return filed this year for last year, for the billions he made, there is no tax liability, even if he cheats on his taxes or his kids do or his business do, he is absolved of that further potential liability?" Schiff asked.
"No," Blanche responded. "He hasn't filed taxes yet, so when he files taxes, there's no protection, based upon this agreement."
According to his annualfinancial disclosure, Mr. Trump earned more than $1 billion dollars from crypto-related ventures alone last year.
Schiff asked Blanche if he personally wrote theone-page document with his signature on itthat said the defendants in Mr. Trump's lawsuit, the IRS and Treasury Department, are "FOREVER BARRED and PRECLUDED" from "prosecuting or pursuing, any and all claims" that arise out of tax returns filed before the settlement took effect in mid-May.
"No," Blanche said. "I don't know the person that actually typed it. I don't know who it is."
Blanche indicated that the Justice Department could investigate former special counsel Jack Smith for perjury related to testimony he gave to Congress about his investigation into Mr. Trump's alleged efforts to subvert the transfer of presidential power after the 2020 election.
Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican, raised records made public by Grassley on Tuesday that showed that members of Smith's team had sought and obtained text messages from the National Archives and Records Administration, which included messages from 44 members of Congress.
The Justice Departmentsaidone of Smith's investigators had asked the National Archives for all text messages from October 2020 through Jan. 20, 2021, from phones tied to certain White House personnel. That material included messages between White House staff and 44 lawmakers.
Republican and Democratic lawmakers were among the 44 whose messages with White House personnel were obtained by Smith's team, according to the Justice Department. Among them were Republicans including Grassley, Hawley, Cruz and Maine Sen. Susan Collins, and Democrats including Booker and Reps. Adam Smith of Washington and Joshua Gottheimer of New Jersey, as well as former Rep. Karen Bass of California.
Smith was questioned by House lawmakers in December about the records he obtained during his investigation, and specifically toll records he obtained from members of Congress. Toll records include data like telephone numbers, the times of calls and length of calls, and do not include the content of messages.
Duringone exchange, a House investigator asked Smith whether he sought search warrants for the content of text messages from members, to which Smith answered, "No, I don't recall that." He did say he sought a warrant for the toll records.
